Austrian Bernd Wiesberger sealed a dramatic win at the Indonesian Masters with a five-under-par 67 to defeat Ernie Els of South Africa by one shot on Sunday.
Wiesberger won his second title in Asia, courtesy some exquisite ball striking as he totalled 15-under-par 273 at the $750,000 Asian Tour event staged at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.
Els, the reigning Open Championship winner, settled for second after carding 68 while overnight leader Daisuke Kataoka of Japan claimed third with a round of 70 to finish on 275. Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand was further three shots back in fourth after registering 69.
Wiesberger credited the victory to his acute iron play and dedicated the win to his grandfather, who passed away a year ago.
“I was struggling in the beginning after my birdie on one. But at the turn I got a bit of momentum going because I was confident with my ball striking,” said Wiesberger, who finished seventh last year.
He made the turn in 34 but tightened his grip with an eagle three on the 12th hole.
“It was good to hole the eagle and it was nice that Ernie (also eagled the same hole) stayed in touch. He wouldn’t let go and that’s why he is such a great champion. It was a good time to do that and it got my round going,” he said.
World No.24 Els was one-over after five holes but put on a battling display with birdies on six and nine followed by an eagle three on 12 which he putted from 30 feet from the fringe. He birdied the last to finish sole second.
Kataoka felt nervous on the first tee but managed to pull-off his best performance since turning professional in 2007. His third place result matched his career’s best on the Asian Tour at the 2011 Taiwan Masters.
Scores after Round 4 (a - denotes amateur):
273 - Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 67-72-67-67.
274 - Ernie Els (RSA) 68-70-68-68.
275 - Daisuke Kataoka (JPN) 70-69-66-70.
278 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 69-65-75-69.
280 - Angelo Que (PHI) 70-70-70-70, Ryan McCarthy (AUS) 70-70-70-70, Mo Joong-kyung (KOR) 72-69-68-71.
281 - Unho Park (AUS) 68-72-70-71, Hwang Inn-choon (KOR) 66-74-70-71, Jake Higginbottom (AUS) 69-69-71-72, Rahil Gangjee (IND) 71-69-69-72.
282 - Anthony Kang (USA) 73-71-69-69, Scott Barr (AUS) 68-68-75-71, Gunn Charoenkul (THA) 69-72-70-71, Jason Knutzon (USA) 68-74-69-71, Wade Ormsby (AUS) 69-68-73-72, Hung Chien-yao (TPE) 70-68-70-74, Richard T. Lee (CAN) 72-68-67-75.
283 - Rikard Karlberg (SWE) 73-71-70-69, Iain Steel (MAS) 70-73-70-70, Kodai Ichihara (JPN) 73-70-69-71, Arnond Vongvanij (THA) 68-74-69-72.
